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Here’s the real reason Rihanna wears locs in Ocean’s 8

Text: Rosemary Donahue; Photography: Bang Showbiz

June 4, 2018

It’s basically the summer of Rihanna — she just hosted the Met Gala, has launched a gorgeous summer makeup collection called Beach, Please, and soon, we’ll be able to watch her, Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, and other stars in the summer blockbuster, Ocean’s 8. In anticipation of the film’s release, Rihanna’s longtime hairstylist, Yusef Williams, chatted with Refinery29 about the hairstyle choice of locs for Rihanna’s character, Nine Ball, in the movie.

Rihanna was seen wearing the long locs around New York City while filming the movie back in the fall of 2016, and the style was apparently her request, according to Us Magazine. Williams, who had already been working with Rihanna for a while, did the style for her and spoke to Refinery29 about the importance of the choice for the character of Nine Ball.

A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on May 29, 2018 at 3:30pm PDT

Williams told Refinery29, “We thought it would be strong. Her locs would maintain that tie to Africa. She’d keep her accent. She wasn’t just going to be some American girl in this movie. Nine Ball is still a Caribbean girl that just happens to be in America.” Given that Rihanna is all about representation and inclusivity in all that she does, including Fenty Beauty and Fenty x Savage, the choice also went beyond the character herself and was about what she’d mean to those watching.

Williams continued, saying, “All in all, the locs are just really badass. I couldn’t imagine her character without them.” As for whether she’ll have the style again? “It probably was the easiest style she’s ever had since she got to be free and cool and see herself differently. She’s a huge pop star, and then we kind of stripped her down and gave her locs that we didn’t make super, super pretty. She made them glamorous when she wanted, and then super casual when she wanted. I thought it was cool to see her locs own the night whenever she went out. You will be seeing her with locs again, for sure. I don’t know when, but it will happen.”